Salt Lake Tribune Review
If it looks as if
Will Ferrell is just going through the motions in this raunchy sports comedy, it's because he's done this all before. His character, Jackie Moon - a former R&B singer who owns, coaches and plays power forward for the Flint Tropics, an American Basketball Association team circa 1976 - is the same self-absorbed stud he played in “Blades of Glory” and “Talladega Nights,” and the '70s fashion jokes are straight out of “Anchorman.” The plot in
Scot Armstrong's sketchy script involves the Tropics trying to get a winning season, which might get the team in the NBA. Most of this plot isn't carried by Ferrell, but by
Woody Harrelson as a washed-up player who tries to reconcile with his ex-wife (
Maura Tierney). First-time director
Kent Alterman (a producer whose credits include Ferrell's “Elf”) is hopeless at reining in Ferrell's manic comedy, and even with mile-a-minute gags and appearances by several of Ferrell's pals, a lot of the jokes clang off the rim.
The rundown: Will Ferrell goes through his usual sports-movie motions in this basketball comedy, this time as the arrogant leader of a ’70s ABA franchise. 91 minutes. (S.P.M.)
Synopsis: In 1976, the maverick ABA is a fast-paced, wild and crazy basketball league that rivals the NBA and makes a name for itself with innovations like the three-point shot and slam dunk contest. Jackie Moon is a one-hit wonder who used the profits from the success of his chart-topping song Love Me Sexy to achieve his dream of owning a basketball team. But Moon's franchise, the Flint Michigan Tropics, is the worst team in the league and in danger of folding when the ABA announces its plans to merge with the NBA. If they want to survive, Jackie and the Tropics must now do the seemingly impossible--win.
